Thursday, July 28, 2016

Bass Works @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom (7/23/16) [Review]


Review By: jdrightright

Photos By: Stetsen Colt Mathias

Saturday was one of the best concerts I have ever attended. The third annual Bass Works, put on by Rebudz and Reload Productions. This show brought together a huge line-up of hard hitting bass pushers. The ticket included Skism, Must Die!, Virtual Riot, Midnight Tyrannosaurus, Pogman, and also !Tyro. It was sold out and a line wrapped all the way around the building at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom leading up to doors opening. The place was electric all night and every performer came through with the fire.




The Masterpiece Ballroom was quickly filled up as those in line made their way inside. A custom stage setup was built in order to add visual effects to go with the music. The stage included three LED panel sections, two on the sides and one large wall in the center behind the booth. They were all linked together so images and designs could be displayed as a large wide single piece, or separated and used for three different images. On the sides the two LED panel walls were left open in their centers and inside the openings lasers were installed. The lasers created a river of light just above the crowd with the fields set to hit the areas between the main floor and the balcony. The graphics and laser operators did a great job adding a visual ascetic to enhance the booming mixes.


Promptly at eight o'clock !Tyro took the stage and he went right to work. This was not your typical opening set, and !Tyro is not your typical producer, he goes for the jugular every time! Heavy bass and only the most choice wubs will do in a live !Tyro mix. He brought out the homie Detrace for a little cameo, they have been working on new music together so look for another sick collaboration single to come soon. !Tyro dropped a bunch of killer tracks, one I remember in particular was "Spellbound" by Eptic. As he wrapped up his set !Tyro introduced the next performance, a back to back set by P0gman and Midnight Tyrannosaurus.


As soon as Midnight Tyrannosaurus took the mic everyone grinned. He started off by yelling, "Yoooo Denver! I'm Midnight Tyrannosaurus!! Where my DOOM fans at?" He was met with a rather loud cheer, the Denver bass fam loves him lots. This was an explosive back to back set in which P0gman and Midnight Tyrannosaurus really showed out. P0gman brought his grimiest bass and Midnight Tyrannosaurus too, combined they presented a well balance dose of dub. Almost throughout the entire set Midnight Tyrannosuarus was hilarious to watch, he had some of the deepest headbangs in the room. P0gman is much more technical, but he definitely made it fun bouncing around to the bass. There were lots of spin outs at the drop faking out the people, but this was just to fire up the crowd even more for the next drop sometimes it was the same drop a second time. This was a monster back to back set that got the place hyped up for more.


Next up was a personal favorite, Skism. He is one of the founders of possibly the best dubstep label in the world, Never Say Die Records. He started his set with a raunchy remix of "Like A Bitch" by Zomboy, and everybody put their hands up promptly. Skism is known for his exemplary live mix skills, and he showed those skills off at Bass Works. He puts together brilliant double drops, and for an hour he was just flawless in creating fresh transitions. Skism got into some classic songs like "Experts" and he had an amazing double drop using Flux Pavilion's "I Can't Stop" and another hard banger. One of my favorite things that Skism does is build up to the drop of one song only to switch it up right at the drop with an even better drop. His ability to match up tracks is so elite, everything is put together seamlessly blended. Skism was in boss mode, his set was layed down perfectly, never a dull moment. Huge love for Skism and what he does, one of the greats for sure, in my eyes he is a living legend.


More than anyone else performing at Bass Works the most intriguing for sure was Virtual Riot. He is just now on his very first tour of the United States. This was his first time in the Bass Capital and he was very impressive. Virtual Riot creates a huge variety of stunning electronic music, his productions are incredibly crisp and clean. I have been rocking out to his library of music for a few years now and I anticipated a lot from his live set. He met all expectations with a dynamic live mix jolting the room into a frenzy. Virtual Riot has a clever technique in mixing, he will leak in a little tease of the upcoming track as he is either building or winding down the previous drop. It works well and lets you know what to expect for the next drop. Virtual Riot got into some of his ill drum and bass tracks in the middle of his set as well as some awesome nintendo sounding stuff. He made a point to drop a dubstep remix of the Pokemon theme song as part of his outro section, and that made me smile so big! Virtual Riot will be back to Denver performing at Beta on a special Gravity Friday September 2nd. So if you missed Virtual Riot you have one more shot to see him thanks to Reload Productions. Or maybe like me you want to see him again already, follow the link above for tickets.


Closing out the night was Must Die! He got his set started with some booty poppin music, but soon after he switched it up into hard headbanging bass. Must Die! has a number of label affiliations including OWSLA, Never Say Die, Smog, Firepower, Rotten Recordings and more. He has a lot of style in his productions and in the live mixes he puts together. Must Die! has been on the scene for a number of years now, but for me he really took off after his album Death & Magic dropped back in 2014. Some of the music Must Die! makes can be described as two robots arguing, and I love to eavesdrop on a good robot argument. To close the set Must Die! mixed into his remix of the song "Emotional" by Flux Pavilion. What a perfect way to end the night, because it was emotional, lots of feels were shared with good friends.




Once again Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom provided a wonderful setting to get sweaty with the Denver bass family. Rebudz and Reload Productions really overdid themselves with this line-up! The show sold out before the event, and if you ask me I'm surprised it didn't sell out earlier with how much firepower they came with! Stay on top of the Rebudz and Reload Productions social media outlets for future show announcements, I heard there is a doozy coming up! Big love to everyone who made this such a badass show.


Saturday, July 9, 2016

JuiceBox Showcases Local Talent Tonight In Ann Arbor


Tonight join Juicebox at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, MI for a special artist showcase with Mocha, DeNero Montez, Joey Rich & Dawning Music! With new music in the works under the rising alias 'MochaMontez', This is sure to be something we've never seen before. While only $10 for entry, we hope to see you there! 

Friday, July 8, 2016

Savant Brings Out DMX & Snoop Dogg On New Single


This brand new heater from Savant has turned the heads of just about every fan out there.. Releasing "Get it Get it" days ago with DMX and Snoop Dogg featuring, it's sure to say the quiet magician has much more up his sleeves. Bringing out some sounds you aren't used to hearing, the powerhouse trio hit this one right on the head. The 90's dance vibe will get you on your feet and the dated video will surely keep you watching!

Thursday, July 7, 2016

UpNorth Music & Art Festival Is Only Days Away!


Join us in Copemish, Michigan August 19th-21st for year one of UpNorth Music & Art Festival! Stacked with a lineup of heavy hitting headliners, the three day festi is surely one of the best we've seen this year. See Liquid Stranger, Shiba SanMija, iLL Gates, OfTheTrees, SunsquabiBoombox Cartel, Michal Menert, Christian Martin, Muzzy Bearr, Filibusta, Dawning Music & many more showcase their talent in a pool of energy created by you! Ticket prices are still low, but are going rapidly so jump on your opportunity to save a few bucks for the time of your life! Join thousands for a weekend of good vibes, great music and even better memories in a venue line none other. See you all UpNorth!

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Megalodon with Twine, Dack Janiels, and Coult45 @ Summit Music Hall (Review) [7/3/16]


Review By: 
jdrightright

Photos By: 
Stetsen Colt Mathias



Summit Music Hall was rowdy this weekend for a big show put on by Amplitude Presents. The line-up was essentially a triple headlined event including Dack Janiels, Twine, and Megalodon. Also Coult45 was in the house to ramp up the hype, and two lucky contest winners were also added to open the doors; Freddie Rule and Coenica.


This was my first time at the Summit Music Hall, and it was impressive. The place maxes out at about 1,400 people including the balcony. The room is set up with excellent vantage points from nearly every position in the building. When you walk in the front door you are in the back of the room next to a long two sided bar island. As you enter the room further towards the stage the floor tiers down so the people in the back of the room can see over top of those closer to the front. To one side there is a small seated kitchen area that serves pizza, burgers and other snacks. At the beginning of the night the balcony was closed and it was mostly used as an area to display the laser fields zapped out by two full color lasers installed on stage. The lasers were mounted high on pillars and angled upward to safely display the powerful beams. Later in the night the balcony was opened and the laser crew made some adjustments so that the people up there would not be in the field of the lasers. Also to add to the visuals a LED graphic wall was assembled in front of the booth in a semi-circle, mostly used to display the logos of the DJs. Summit Music Hall was close to being sold out, but even so, with how the room is layed out there are plenty of spots to view the stage without having to cram into a small space.


Starting out the night were the two DJ mix contest winners, Freddie Rule and Coenica. Freddy Rule got things started off on a chill note, and built up to some melodic dub. Then Coenica took the stage and they started to get things a bit more rowdy getting into some glitch-hop and dubstep beats. Coenica consists of Braydon Drell (The Philosopher), and Alex Williams (Baby). This was a great way to start the night and also get the word out on some fresh up and coming talent.



Denver favorite Coult45 was up next with an extended set going for an hour and a half. Not a problem for a pro like him, he is used to getting the room poppin off at Beta Nightclub right across the street from Summit Music Hall. The room really started to fill up when Coult45 came on, he always has the illest music to drop in his sets. One track he mixed in served as a shout out to the homie !Tyro, another awesome Denver producer. Coult45 has been doing a lot of studio work mixing and mastering new original tracks and remixes too. Definitely keep your eye on Coult45 he always has the club goin up.


Next on the decks was Dack Janiels and he slayed from start to finish. He started out by asking, "Where my fucking stoners at?" This had the whole place screaming right off the bat. Dack Janiels had the headbangers flailing hair and breaking necks to the bass. Dack Janiels has ties to the Never Say Die Black Label, Rottun Recordings, 40oz Cult and a bunch of other hard bass labels. He threw shout outs to a bunch of badass producers including, Habstrakt, Figure, and Dubloadz during his set as he dropped music he made in collaboration with them. Dack Janiels put together a massive bass set with huge energy and it made the room sizzle!


Dack Janiels introduced Twine and he didn't miss a beat, he just went straight into a monster dubstep mix. Twine is another artist with multiple record label affiliations including OWSLA, Disciple, Monstercat, SMOG, and more. Twine lets the music do the talking, he is very relaxed and technical while creating his live mix on stage. Every now and then Twine would direct the people and dance along to the beat, but for the most part he just stayed on point. Twine closed out his set with an incredibly hard ten minutes of filth, he dropped music from Excision and he had everyone putting their X's up to salute.


The final set of the night was from Megalodon a raunchy dub-stepper representing the one and only Never Say Die Records. He pumped out the loudest bass and the dopest new music of the night. Megalodon is on the cutting edge of hard bass music, and that's why he was trusted to put together the most recent Never Say Die Black Label compilation XL 3. The compilation includes tracks from Dack Janiels, xKore, a few Megalodon songs of course, and much more. On stage Megalodon is very animated, he bounces around and keeps the energy off the charts. He had to shout out the bass house boss Jauz as he dropped a brand new song they did together called "Shark Attack". A mosh-pit accompanied the majority of Megalodon's set right in the center of the dance floor. The bass was pounding so hard that the CDJ's were shifting and nearly falling off the table in the booth! Megalodon crushed it and the people went hard right up until the last wub.





What a night, heavy bass echoed through my head for hours afterwards! Summit Music Hall was a perfect place to rage, I hope to attend many more shows there with the growing posse. Thanks again to Stetsen Colt Mathias for capturing an exciting photo album of the night. Huge props go out to Amplitude Presents for bringing this gargantuan line-up together. They are an elite squadron in the Denver bass family who always brings the heat. Make sure to follow Amplitude Presents on Facebook for show announcements and contests to win free tickets.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Shaebae Is On The Move With This New Release

This one of a kind track brings new elements to the table with a fresh sounding look on pop music. Shaebae continues to shock her audience with her consistent outlooks and we're ready for more. Backed by Epicure & LandofEph, two rising artists out of Michigan, "wet white tee shirts" delicately sits between genres and paves a way of its own.

- Keep up with Shaebae - 



Exit Festival Is Right Around The Corner!


Back for two amazing weekends of Exit Festival and Sea Dance Festival! If you've never been, this is your year.. The dual event brings endless amounts of talent from all around the world to provide their fans with a top of the line experience. From local to worldwide, there is an act for you! Catch sets from The Prodigy, Bastille, Ellie Goulding, Gramatik, Zomboy, The Vaccines, Modestep & many more! Info & Tickets HERE!


Listen: Tycho Releases Single, "Divisions" - First New Music Since 2014's Awake


Apart from the Awake Remixes, the likes of Scott Hansen and his Tycho crew (Rory O'Connor - Drums; Zac Brown - Guitar; Joe Davancens - Bass, Synth, Keyboards) have been fairly quite as of late on the new music front. It was no secret they were back in the studio and it was only a matter of time for something new to hit the airwaves and boy did they deliver in time for warm summer months. Take a listen to "Division" below and brace yourself for more new music in the near future (hopefully)!